Emily Markey EDC 102 H Outside Influence 19 September 2011
Outside influences help to shape what kind of a student someone will become. Family, extra-curricular activities and friends all affect the child from an early age and continue to throughout their life. Some inspirations are more profound than others depending on the person. In my life, the biggest outside influence has always been my family.
At an early age, my family would encourage me to enjoy school. My older brother and I used to play “school” in our parlor until he started kindergarten. I was incredibly jealous, but my mom assured me that I would be on my way soon enough. Besides, I was able to stay home and play with my baby brother, although the novelty of that idea quickly wore off. My parents would talk to me about how important it was that I get good grades so that I could get the most out of school. By the time that it was finally my turn to go to school, my mom and dad had instilled in me that although school was fun, I still needed to do my best work all of the time. Whenever I came home with a good grade, my paper would earn the honor of going on the fridge next to my big brother’s work for all to see. If I ever got a poor grade, my parents would find out why and help me to do better by quizzing me at home, such was the case with my times tables.
My parents taught us all at a young age that proficiency in school was expected. At times I would wonder why getting a “B” was not considered a good grade. My parents pushed me much like Cedric Jennings’ mom did in A Hope in the Unseen. Our parents cared about our future and wanted us to have as many advantages as possible when we grew up, which started with a good education as a child. I was forced to push myself to exceed the standard in every subject, which sometimes seemed like a lot of pointless work. Now I can appreciate that my parents always had my best interest at heart. As the years went on, I developed a work ethic that, thanks to my parents, allowed me to get straights “A”s almost all of the time.
When I finally got to high school, I was able to easily ace every subject because I had been used to doing well in school and knew what ways I could best learn the material. If I did not understand a concept in class, I would ask my parents who could explain it. I remember one time, I was having trouble with forming a thesis statement and my dad was able to teach me the proper structure. My older brother would also help me with my homework whenever I needed it and vice versa. I have always been skilled at math even though I do not particularly like the subject and was able to help him because math is one of his weaker points. Similarly, I cannot stand writing essays and the subject is not my forte. My brother would help me because he is an excellent writer and could teach me to properly articulate exactly what I meant. He even convinced me to take French class in addition to Spanish which helped to inspire me to choose my major.
I decided what I wanted my future career to be because of my parents. My mom is a special education teacher at Bradford Elementary school and my dad is an English teacher at Pilgrim High School. I decided at a young age that I wanted to become a teacher like my parents because I have always admired them. I hope that I can be like them someday because they are two of the most important people in my life and I think that they are incredible. Out of all the teaching possibilities, I chose to be a foreign language teacher because I really enjoy different languages. I am a secondary education and Spanish double major with a minor in French and hopefully Italian. I know that in my future career I will be able to still look to my family for guidance. The biggest outside influence on my academic career has been my family.
EDC 102 H
Outside Influence
19 September 2011
Outside influences help to shape what kind of a student someone will become. Family, extra-curricular activities and friends all affect the child from an early age and continue to throughout their life. Some inspirations are more profound than others depending on the person. In my life, the biggest outside influence has always been my family.
At an early age, my family would encourage me to enjoy school. My older brother and I used to play “school” in our parlor until he started kindergarten. I was incredibly jealous, but my mom assured me that I would be on my way soon enough. Besides, I was able to stay home and play with my baby brother, although the novelty of that idea quickly wore off. My parents would talk to me about how important it was that I get good grades so that I could get the most out of school. By the time that it was finally my turn to go to school, my mom and dad had instilled in me that although school was fun, I still needed to do my best work all of the time. Whenever I came home with a good grade, my paper would earn the honor of going on the fridge next to my big brother’s work for all to see. If I ever got a poor grade, my parents would find out why and help me to do better by quizzing me at home, such was the case with my times tables.
My parents taught us all at a young age that proficiency in school was expected. At times I would wonder why getting a “B” was not considered a good grade. My parents pushed me much like Cedric Jennings’ mom did in A Hope in the Unseen. Our parents cared about our future and wanted us to have as many advantages as possible when we grew up, which started with a good education as a child. I was forced to push myself to exceed the standard in every subject, which sometimes seemed like a lot of pointless work. Now I can appreciate that my parents always had my best interest at heart. As the years went on, I developed a work ethic that, thanks to my parents, allowed me to get straights “A”s almost all of the time.
When I finally got to high school, I was able to easily ace every subject because I had been used to doing well in school and knew what ways I could best learn the material. If I did not understand a concept in class, I would ask my parents who could explain it. I remember one time, I was having trouble with forming a thesis statement and my dad was able to teach me the proper structure. My older brother would also help me with my homework whenever I needed it and vice versa. I have always been skilled at math even though I do not particularly like the subject and was able to help him because math is one of his weaker points. Similarly, I cannot stand writing essays and the subject is not my forte. My brother would help me because he is an excellent writer and could teach me to properly articulate exactly what I meant. He even convinced me to take French class in addition to Spanish which helped to inspire me to choose my major.
I decided what I wanted my future career to be because of my parents. My mom is a special education teacher at Bradford Elementary school and my dad is an English teacher at Pilgrim High School. I decided at a young age that I wanted to become a teacher like my parents because I have always admired them. I hope that I can be like them someday because they are two of the most important people in my life and I think that they are incredible. Out of all the teaching possibilities, I chose to be a foreign language teacher because I really enjoy different languages. I am a secondary education and Spanish double major with a minor in French and hopefully Italian. I know that in my future career I will be able to still look to my family for guidance. The biggest outside influence on my academic career has been my family.